The Irony In Andy Murray's Prestigious Award

While Andy Murray has proven he belongs in the upper echelon of tennis, alongside men like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Murray can't quite match up to his contemporaries when it comes to personality. Simply put, he doesn't have the charm of Federer or the playfulness of Djokovic.

So it's not hard to see the irony, then, in Murray's most recent honor. The 26-year-old Wimbledon champ was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. Not bad for someone who has admitted to purposely being boring at press conferences.

In fairness, the BBC's honor is similar to Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year award, meant to recognize an outstanding athlete. It is not given to the athlete with the best personality.

Murray has capped off an outstanding 2013 season with victories at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. He became the first British man to win Wimbledon in 77 years.

If the award were going to someone with a big personality, however, Murray would probably not even be a finalist.

"Whether people like you or not should be irrelevant," Murray said recently. "But, to be honest, over the years I have found it difficult to open up and be a bundle of laughs in press conferences or interviews I always try to give honest answers, but they are fairly boring so I don't have to deal with the aftermath of any scandals."